Pubdate: Fri, 30 Oct 2015
Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
Copyright: 2015 The StarPhoenix
Contact: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400
Author: Charles Hamilton
Page: A1

MARIJUANA DISPENSARY RAIDED

Four charged with trafficking at store

Police say the people operating Saskatoon's only medical pot
dispensary are criminals.

"They are drug traffickers," said Saskatoon Police Insp. Dave
Haye.

Police shut down the Saskatoon Compassion Club on Thursday, arresting
four people associated with the club.

The dispensary had been providing marijuana to people with medical
licenses since August. While police maintain the club was acting
illegally and selling the drug outside of Health Canada's regulations
on medical marijuana, clients who frequented the storefront dispensary
were devastated by the news.

"This was really helping a lot of people. I'm going to suffer. I know
there's a lot of other people that are going to suffer," said club
member Sean Dew outside the building.

Police said the investigation began in September, weeks after the
storefront was opened.

Incoming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned on a promise to
legalize marijuana for recreational use. That promise had no bearing
on the investigation or the decision to crack down on the dispensary
this week, Haye said.

"It has nothing to do with any politics ... we are simply enforcing
the laws as they are today," he said.

Two Saskatoon men, ages 24 and 36, along with two Saskatoon women,
ages 23 and 39, were arrested as part of an investigation police
dubbed Project Fextern.

Search warrants were executed around 10:30 a.m. at a home in the 400
block of 109th Street West and the dispensary in the 200 block of
Second Avenue North.

Police would not confirm the identity of any of the people arrested or
the quantity of marijuana products seized.

Haye said police seized computers and other electronic equipment from
the store. Mark Hauk, head of the Saskatchewan Compassion Club, may
have seen the raids coming.

Hauk recently said he was one of 13 pot club owners across Canada who
had received a notice from Health Canada warning of possible raids by
police.

The letters stated that the owners could face legal action if they
don't stop selling or advertising marijuana. The letter Hauk received
threatened two years in prison and fines of up to $5 million.

When asked if he was worried about police shutting down his operation,
Hauk previously said it has been a concern ever since he began selling
dried cannabis and other marijuana products.

"I don't take being arrested or going to jail lightly," he said in a
recent interview. "The reality is we were well aware before the letter
was issued that we were operating outside the federal
regulations."

Police confirmed they are not targeting clients of the club or people
who allegedly purchased marijuana illegally. Still, compassion club
members like Aaron Pittner showed up outside the store to show support
for the club and other medical marijuana patients.

"It's really sad. There were a lot of people who use this service
here," Pittner said.

He's been a client of the club since it opened and will now have find
his medical marijuana elsewhere, he said. Like Dew, he said he doesn't
feel safe buying marijuana on the black market, but he might have to,
now that the club is closed. "I think it's wrong," he said. The
36-year-old man is charged with four counts of trafficking in a
controlled substance (marijuana and cannabis resin), two counts of
possession for the purpose of trafficking a controlled substance, and
possession of the proceeds of crime.

The two women are each facing four counts of trafficking in a
controlled substance (marijuana and cannabis resin) and two counts of
possession for the purpose of trafficking a controlled substance.

The 24-year-old man is charged with two counts of trafficking in a
controlled substance (marijuana and cannabis resin) and two counts of
possession for the purpose of trafficking a controlled substance.

All four are scheduled to appear today in Saskatoon provincial
court.

The investigation was conducted by the Saskatoon Integrated Drug
Enforcement Street Team (SIDEST) and Integrated Organized Crime North
(IOCN). Both units include members of the Saskatoon Police Service and
the RCMP 'F' Division.
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